The Do's, Don'ts, and Suggestions for Performers on the Road, on the Stage, and Generally Practicing Their Craft - Part 2 Finale

So, here's the final segment of my performance "rules and suggestions".  I hope you find them helpful and easy to apply to your life.  As always, send me ANY questions or concerns.  All of these posts are intended to be of practical use to you, not just regurgitating my "inner thoughts", so, "work with with people"!  "Help Me Help You!"  Enjoy!

·      Have Fun! – Everything I’ve said up to now has been about temperance and moderation but you must certainly MAKE SURE you also set aside time to have FUN along the way.  Pretty much everyone has a Smart Phone now.  Take LOTS of pictures and videos but also take time to MAKE MEMORIES!  We’ve gotten into such a mentality of photographing everything with our phones that we oftentimes forget to actually EXPERIENCE what we are doing.  I can tell you I didn’t have a Smart Phone when I was touring.  I got some pictures but I have MANY incredible memories from meeting legendary people to silly things like once when I was running through Tokyo (exercising), I had to constantly say, “Sumimasen,” which means either ‘Sorry’ or ‘Excuse Me.’ I was taller than everyone on the street and being a very crowded city, the streets were packed with people.  Hysterically, as I said Sumimasen, all the people around me bowed as they moved aside for me to run through.  I’m sure the scene was comical to view; it was even pretty comical for me as I ran through.  That’s one of the wonderful, personal memories no picture could ever have captured and I’m so thrilled to have been there to see it myself.  Can you imagine being in an intensely congested theme park, like Disneyland, when a young woman came “attempting” to jog through?  Here, people would essentially just ignore the runner and continue about their business.  In Japan, not only did they NOT ignore me, they stopped and bowed as they backed away.  What an amazing scene!  The actual touring can be very grueling and when you play clubs, you often spend more time walking through the kitchens than being escorted from your limousine.  Still, there are magical moments that you can’t experience anywhere else and you need to savor each one of them.

·      Water, Water, Water, Water! – Yes, back to my favorite subject but you just can’t get away from this amazing, life-giving, life-saving substance.  If you’re touring, water will, literally, save you from Jet Lag.  You need to buy water as soon as you clear Security at an airport.  Don’t wait until you get on the plane.  The little cups or bottles you get once airborne won’t help you much at all.  You need 1-2 liters at least.  I know that’s a lot but your body, particularly your brain, will thank you later.  Jet Lag is caused when your brain gets de-hydrated, so don’t give it the opportunity to dry out.  The more water you drink, the easier and quicker your body will adjust to changing environments and even time zones or climates.

·      Sleep When You Can! – YOUR VOICE NEEDS SLEEP.  That is true whether you are at home, at a local club, staying at a hotel while working in one of its performance rooms, or touring somewhere around the world.  Sleep is VITAL!  However, it can also be quite elusive!  You would think, logically, that after traveling, you would be exhausted and easily able to sleep but that is just not the case many times, especially if you haven’t been able to stay well hydrated.  If you are touring, your body knows when it’s in a different time zone and sometimes, no matter how tired you may feel, your body just won’t allow you to go to sleep.  This is where your routine, including physical exercise and lots of water, will serve you well.  If possible, take along some Melatonin and make sure you really practice your deep breathing to help your body relax.  When you’re performing in clubs or shows, this also holds true.  If you work a 9 to 5 job, when you get off, you don’t come home and go directly to bed.  Well, if you sing or your show isn’t over until after 1 a. m., you can’t be expected to go right to bed the second you get home either.  However, you will also have “daylight” activities you need to do, so it’s very tempting to cut your sleep short.  BE SMART!  Sleep When You Can Because IT SHOWS When You Don’t!  Your eyes will develop redness, bags, poor pallor to overall skin tone, and a general “tiredness” in appearance.  You all know what I’m talking about; you’ve seen people on television you could tell were overly tired.  People can always tell when you haven’t had enough sleep.  Worse though, they can HEAR when you haven’t had enough sleep.  BE SMART!  Sleep When You Can Because IT SHOWS When You Don’t!

·      Bring Along Your Vocal First Aid Kit – Check out Blog Post on June 16, 2016 on the contents of a Vocal First Aid Kit and make certain you’ve brought along all the needed contents so that you don’t lose any precious time searching for what you need in a strange area, and you don’t lose any time maintaining your vocal health.

·      FOR FEMALES – Have an “Express” Makeup Routine for Emergencies – This probably sounds kind of ridiculous but we always need to prepare for as many potential situations as possible.  I live outside Los Angeles and the traffic here is so incredibly unpredictable that for all the planning you do, you always have to have a “contingency” plan.  This idea is to have a bag of “must haves” for your makeup.  If you HAVE to do your makeup sitting in traffic or in an airport bathroom or a theater green room, you can still look your best and remain calm and collected for your performance.

·      STAY IN SHAPE PHYSICALLY! – I’m working on a video series of exercises for singers but until I get that finished, this means AEROBICS.  You really need to raise your heart rate for 12 minutes at a time, at least 5 times a week.  That does NOT mean a total of 12 minutes of exercising; it means exercising until your heart rate becomes elevated significantly, THEN, exercising at least 12 minutes at that pace, and finishing by slowly warming down your exercise to lower your heart rate back down.  Check this website at Active.com, http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/heartrate to determine exactly what that heart rate should be.  Once you get into your exercise routine, you will be able to pretty much “feel” when you are exercising efficiently.  This can be challenging when you have a club gig or a regular role in a play, especially if you have matinee performances, as well as evening shows.  However, AGAIN, keep your eyes on the long-term, and remember that this aerobic exercise is going to significantly and strategically strengthen your voice AND your body, as a whole.  Swimming, jogging, playing tennis or soccer or basketball or the like, or even running on a trampoline or doing an aerobics DVD; there are many, many activities that quality to raise your heart rate, and aid your overall voice and breathing empowerment.  This is only challenging, legitimately, when you are on the road.  At that point, it is difficult to know where you’ll be able to find a gym or a pool, or access to those facilities.  I have “jogged”, literally, all over the world:  all over the States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Germany… pretty much everywhere I’ve ever been.  Yes, you have to be careful.  I’ve gotten decently frightened in China when I was pretty sure I was completely lost but here I sit…outside Los Angeles, very much alive.  I also almost always carried a Portable Mini Trampoline with me.  Even when I was singing on a ship, I didn’t always like using their gym but my trampoline was easy to set up and collapse.  Then, I did sit-ups, push-ups, and other stretches to round things out.  Getting a couple of #2 cans of anything from the galley or kitchen is just as good as having small weights, and most hotels and/or theaters have multiple stairways you can run up and down, if there’s no other easy access to aerobic exercise.  It really is not hard to find ways to exercise, and you NEED TO MAKE IT A HIGH PRIORITY!

Send me any other ideas, questions, or comments in the comment section below.  Check out my website at http://SingitForward.net.  Thanks SO much for reading and following this blog!  You are GREATLY appreciated!  Sing it Forward!